Take Me As I Arrive: Blues Rock version

HEAR THE COVER BY TECHCOWGIRL ON YOUTUBE AT: >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpDpxP8aDQ4 ============================================= [Intro, E minor guitar motif; close-miked low vocal, dry room] I learned to wear the borrowed coat Buttoned wrong against my throat Every doorway had a rule Every table had a seat I kept trimming off the parts That made the picture incomplete [Verse 1, Em–Cmaj7–G–D; woody guitar, restrained piano] You read my face like folded mail Half afraid of what you’d find I can feel you check the doorway When somebody walks behind But I am tired of small disguises Tired of paying for the view If I hand you every color Will you still choose what is true? [Pre-Chorus, ascending Em–G–C–D; drums entering, doubled vocal] Don’t make me smaller for the room Don’t make me easy to explain I came here carrying my own name I won’t trade it for your shame [Chorus, G–D–Em–C; wide guitars, stacked vocals] Take me as I arrive All the crooked, all the kind Nah, nah, nah — don’t cut me down to size If you want me, want me alive Not the version that behaves Not the shape your people praise Nah, nah, nah — look me straight in the eyes Take me as I arrive [Post-Chorus, suspended guitar chords; gang response] Nah, nah, nah No halfway name Nah, nah, nah No borrowed face [Verse 2, Em–Cmaj7–G–D; piano answers, deeper bass] I have slept beside the question Like a stone beneath the sheet Who decides which side of someone Gets invited in to eat? I can love you without asking You to edit who you are Can you love me past the doorway When the room begins to stare? [Pre-Chorus 2, Em–G–C–D; snare lift, rough vocal double] I won’t bend into a symbol I won’t pose for anyone You can keep me in your daylight Or admit what you’ve begun [Chorus 2, G–D–Em–C; full band, gang vocals] Take me as I arrive All the crooked, all the kind Nah, nah, nah — don’t cut me down to size If you want me, want me alive Not the version that behaves Not the shape your people praise Nah, nah, nah — look me straight in the eyes Take me as I arrive [Breakdown, Em pedal tone; floor tom, piano, near-spoken vocal] Suppose the sky wore two different colors Suppose the sea refused one shore Suppose a bird grew paper antlers Would you love it any more? I am not a courtroom question I am not a debt to pay I am standing here beside you You decide if you will stay [Bridge, C–G–D–Em; stripped first half, gradual full-band return] Call me difficult Call me strange Call me anything But don’t rename What you touch What you know What you fear When I show [Build, Em–C–G–D; toms, overdriven guitar, vocal stack] Nah, nah, nah No halfway name Nah, nah, nah No borrowed face Nah, nah, nah If love has weight Then hold all of me Or give me space [Final Chorus, G–D–Em–C; biggest drums, guitar counterline, stacked gang vocals] Take me as I arrive Every scar and every side Nah, nah, nah — no place left to hide If you want me, want me alive I won’t fold to fit your frame I won’t answer to your shame Nah, nah, nah — look me straight in the eyes Take me as I arrive [Final Hook, C–D–Em; drums stop-start, crowd response] Take me as I arrive Nah, nah, nah Take me as I arrive Nah, nah, nah No halfway name No borrowed face Take me Take me As I arrive [Outro, Em add9; lone guitar, piano tail, close vocal] If you stay Stay for all of it [short guitar solo] Nah, nah, nah [small finish]